The Road Not Taken
by Izayoi Aki TT
Summary: We all know that Fubuki Atsuya died in the avalanche that claimed the lives of of Fubuki Shirou's parents. But what might have happened, if both twins had survived that fateful day?


The Road not taken.

**Disclaimer:** Inazuma Eleven and its elements are property of Level 5. I am making no money from this.

**AN:** Thanks to my Onee-san Peach Wookie for editing this for me.

On a mountainous path in the Hokkaido region of Japan, not far from Hakuren Elementary School, a car belonging to the Fubuki family was heading towards the nearest town.

The mother of the family, Kimi, turned around in her seat to address the twin sons. "Isn't it great that it didn't have to get cancelled? You two were amazing!"

The younger of the twins, Atsuya, leaned forward in his seat a little with a small noise of protest. "Nii-chan didn't do anything! He missed too!"

The older of the twins, Shirou put his hands to the side and closed his eyes before replying with "That's because you got in the way, Atsuya. Even though you're a forward, you get in people's ways for the ball." From the driver seat of the car Jomei, the father said, "Shirou, Atsuya, you both did well. Everyone makes mistakes."

Fubuki smiled softly. "Dad..."

Atsuya scoffed. "Feh! Soccer should be done the way you like it. It doesn't have anything to do with being a forward or defender."

Shirou turned to his brother. "It does. No matter how many points you get, you can't win if you don't have a good defense," he stated.

Atsuya whirled his head towards Shirou, nearly pouting. "There's nothing cooler than shooting in goals!"

Shirou continued to stare at his brother before Jomei called from the front of the car, "Then with the two of you together, you're perfect."

Shirou looked at their father. "Perfect?" he asked.

"I see!" Atsuya turned to his brother. "With the two of us..."

Shirou smiled before completing Atsuya's sentence. "We'll get stronger. We'll get stronger and be perfect!"

"All right! Let's become the best in the world, Nii-chan!" He raised a hand to high-five the other.

Shirou moved his hand to high-five his brother. "Yeah!"

"Best in the world, huh?" Jomei called. "That's pretty tough," he stated before looking back at the twins. "Do your best, you two!"

Atsuya turned towards his father and nodded. "Yeah!"

"Yeah!" Shirou echoed what his brother said, his hand still linked with Atsuya's. And then, as the family laughed, a rumbling rang out from the mountains. There was a bang like a gunshot and then the rumbling of a distant train.

The family stopped laughing and all looked out the side window. The road wound along a ridge. As if sensing something was about to happen, Shirou clenched Atsuya's hand tighter while his other hand undid his seatbelt. "Undo your belt, Atsuya!" Shirou cried in a slightly panicky voice.

"W-wha-" Atsuya, eyes wide with panic as well, quickly did as he was told, unfastening his seatbelt with a shaky hand. Confused and terrified as he was, he trusted his brother's words.

Once Shirou saw that Atsuya was also out of his seatbelt, he made a drastic decision and opens the back seat door on his side and spared one last glance at their parents before he jumped out the door pulling Atsuya with him. This was a good thing as moments after the twins rolled to a stop on the snowy ground, an avalanche of snow hurled over the top of the ridge burying their car.

Four years later, in the national park where Aliea Academy had recently attacked and the coach of Raimon, Kira Hitomiko, had just kicked Gouenji Shuuya, their ace striker off the team and not given a good reason. Someoka made a fist with one hand as he stood with the rest of Raimon's team. "Why did you kick Gouenji off the team?" he yelled.

Without even so much as a blink, Hitomiko coldly replied, "We didn't need him."

Someoka clenched his fist more and made a move for Hitomiko. "Now you listen to me...!"

Standing nearby, Kidou reached over and placed a hand on Someoka's shoulder. "That's enough," he stated calmly. "Even if you went on, it won't bring Gouenji back."

Ichinose, standing near Megane and Domon spoke up. "Someoka." He gave the other a small, quick nod, a grave expression on his face.

Megane adjusted his glasses and looked to the side. "Endou-kun."

Endou walked over, looking vaguely serious.

"Endou, where's Gouenji?" Ichinose asked.

"He left."

Someoka whirled around to look at Endou. "Why didn't you stop him?" he growled.

"He'll come back," Endou said simply, eyes cast downward.

The camera panned slowly by numerous members of the team. From next to Kabeyama, Domon spoke up. "What the hell? With Gouenji out there all alone... It's game over for him, is that it?" he asked.

"No," Endou murmured. "Leaving the team doesn't mean that it's game over." His head snapped up and he grinned. "It's the kickoff for when we all meet again!"

Hitomiko just stared for a moment or so, before her phone went off, signaling that she had an email. She pulled it out and read it out loud. "At Hakuren Junior High located in Hokkaido... Bring their ace striker and ace defender, Fubuki Atsuya and Fubuki Shirou, into the team to increase your strength."

Later on, as Hitomiko discussed something with the driver, the rest of the team was inside. "So, who are Fubuki Atsuya and Fubuki Shirou anyway?" Endou asked.

"Why does Hibiki-san want them to join our team?" questioned Ichinose afterwards.

Haruna typed away at her laptop. "I got it!" she suddenly exclaimed.

Everyone gathered around Haruna's seat so they could see the laptop screen. "The Bear Killers, Fubuki?" Someoka asked with his arms crossed.

"They scored ten points by themselves in a single match," Kidou murmured, eyebrows raised.

"They have another nickname, The Blizzard Fubukis," Kazemaru added.

"The only thing here are rumors about them," Kurimatsu piped up.

Natsumi reached over and shoved Endou back who was hanging too far over the back of the seat for her liking before asking. "Can we say we know who Fubuki Shirou and Fubuki Atsuya are after reading these?"

Haruna smiled sweetly. "But this is all the information there is. There aren't any videos of them or official records," she stated.

"Why didn't they show up at the Football Frontier...?" Kidou asked, apparently thinking out loud.

"No idea," Haruna replied slowly.

"All right then!" Endou said with a slight fist pump. "Let's go see for ourselves how good these two are!"

By night time, the Inazuma Caravan was steadily heading towards Hokkaido. Most of the boys were asleep except for Someoka and Domon. Someoka stared out the window with his arms crossed.

Domon silently craned his neck towards Someoka. "Hey! What kind of guys do you think the legendary ace striker and legendary ace defender Fubuki are like?"

Someoka turned to look at Domon, his usual cross expression in place. "The only ace striker for us is Gouenji!" he stated before looking to where Gouenji usually sat, then to the front of the caravan where Coach Hitomiko was reading a book.

"YAHOO! WE'RE FINALLY IN HOKKAIDO!" Endou shouted, looking out the window.

In the very back of the caravan, Kabeyama was wrapped in a blanket and shivering. "I-It's cold!" he exclaimed before sneezing.

Megane had his arms crossed as he said, "It is Hokkaido, after all."

"You're right," Ichinose muttered, rubbing his upper arm. "It's about as cold as Chicago."

Suddenly the caravan screeched to a halt. Hitomiko looked over at the driver. "What's the matter?" she asked. The driver stared out the windshield and answered, "There's people out there."

On the side of the road, just outside, two people were standing and shivering. One also happened to be letting out a rather colorful stream of swears. Endou hopped out of the caravan, running over to the two. "What're you two doing out here in the cold? C'mon, get in!" He jabbed his thumb behind him.

Shirou smiled. "T-T-Tha-Thank y-y-you!" he replied, his teeth chattering with the cold.

Atsuya simply stared at Endou for a moment or so before Endou led him and Shirou onto the caravan.

Inside the Caravan, Shirou and Atsuya were wrapped in blankets, still shivering a little. Touko looked at the two. "Still cold?" she asked.

"N-No, I'm okay now," Shirou replied.

Atsuya muttered, "E-eh... we'll live..."

"What were you two doing out in the middle of that snowfield?" Aki asked, leaning forward in her seat.

Shirou looked at Aki before speaking. "That place is special to us." After a pause he continued, "It's called the Northern Ridge."

"Northern Ridge? I've heard about that place. A lot of avalanches occur there, don't they?" Furukabu asked.

Shirou's expression turned slightly sad. "Yeah," he replied.

"..." Atsuya simply glanced down, closing his eyes. It was probably obvious to Shirou that under the blanket, he was tensing up. Shirou glanced over at Atsuya and shifted the blanket around him slightly so he could get an arm free and put a hand on his brother's shoulder in comfort. Atsuya relaxed a little at the contact and turned towards Shirou, smiling sadly. He placed a hand on top of his twin's.

"By the way, kids, which direction are you heading?" Furukabu asked.

"Straight ahead, like a ball that's been kicked towards the sky," Shirou replied with a small smile. Atsuya grinned and gave a nod at Shirou's response.

"I like how you say that!" Endou said enthusiastically. "Straight ahead, like a ball that's been kicked up towards the sky, huh? Do you like soccer?"

Shirou looked back at Endou slightly. "Yeah, I like playing," he replied.

"So do I!" Atsuya piped up.

"I totally love soccer too!" Endou said with a grin. Shirou looked back and smiled widely as well. Endou's grin grew wider at the smile, but jumped when he heard a loud noise.

Furukabu revved the engine a few times but to no avail. "A tire's been caught in the snow," he stated as he undid his seat belt and moved to get up. "I'll go take a look."

"You can't," Shirou called out. "The old mountain man will get you."

"... Old mountain man?" Endou asked.

Atsuya simply raised an eyebrow at his twin as if to ask, "What the hell?"

Megane made a curious sound and looked out the window by him only to jerk back as a claw smacked the window. The caravan started to shake as the bear outside attempted to push it over. Everyone screamed as they were jerked around and when it settled slightly they noticed that the seats where the two boys they picked up were empty. The caravan was freed from the snow and the bear suddenly keeled over. A few moments later the doors to the caravan opened again and Shirou walked in holding a soccer ball, Atsuya following right behind him. Shirou had an enormous grin on his face. "It's safe to go now," Shirou stated.

Atsuya wore a nearly identical grin. "All clear," he said with a chuckle.

Endou blinked. "It can't be..."

"It can't be..." Kurimatsu copied Endou while Domon looked at Ichinose "Right..." Furukabu started the caravan again. "Oh, we can move. All right, let's go!" he called.

After a while of driving, the caravan finally ended up... somewhere.

"Are you guys sure you wanna be dropped off here?" Endou asked.

"Yeah, it's just around the bend," Shirou replied, raising a hand and pointing in a direction.

"All right! Bye, then!"

"Thanks," Shirou replied, holding the soccer ball and watching the caravan doors close. Once it left, Shirou tossed the soccer ball to Atsuya.

Atsuya chuckled, catching the ball. He tossed it up, and gave it a rather fierce kick, sending it through the snow and creating a path for Shirou and himself. He grinned at the other. "Shall we?"

Shirou smiled and nodded as he and Atsuya headed through the created path toward Hakuren Academy in the distance.

The Inazuma Caravan reached Hakuren Junior High and after some brief introductions Hitomiko asked, "Where are Fubuki Shirou and Fubuki Atsuya?"

"Fubuki-kun and Fubuki-kun? They may be out skiing now. They are trying to go for a 100 meter jump this year," one student stated.

"No, they are probably ice skating! They were going to try completing their triple axel jump," another student declared.

"I think they are bobsledding. I think they are trying to get past 100 kph," a third adds.

"Skiing, skating and bobsledding...and they are bear killers?" Kazemaru asked incredulously crossing his arms over his chest.

"They can do so many sports? What awesome guys!" Endou cried out with a grin. "I'm getting more excited to meet them!"

Some noises were heard outside the nearby door. "Could they be back?" one student asked.

Another student walked over to the door and opened it. Fubuki-kun and Fubuki-kun!" she called out. Endou audibly gulped as the girl talked. "Hurry, hurry! Where were you? We've got guests!" she calls looking back towards the Raimon group with one arm out the door.

"Guests?" a familiar voice called.

"Oh, jeez, seriously?" another familiar voice seemed to grumble. "O-ow! Shirou, you didn't have to elbow me! Jeez!"

Shirou entered first with Atsuya right behind him and looked at the Raimon group. "Huh? Oh it's you guys," he said.

"Huh, weird. Guess it's a small world after all," Atsuya muttered.

Endou blinked. "Huh? You two are from earlier! Fubuki Atsuya and Fubuki Shirou... were you?"

From nearby Someoka spoke. "You guys are the bear killers?" he asked in shock.

Shirou put a hand behind his head as he looked at Someoka. "Oh, are you disappointed after seeing the real thing? Everyone who hears about those rumors assume we're big guys or something... This is the real Fubuki Shirou and Fubuki Atsuya," Shirou replied, pointing to himself and then his twin.

"… Yeah, yeah, nice to meet you, I guess." Atsuya crossed his arms and looked away from the others.

Shirou sighed. "Don't mind my brother, he's always like this; I'm the only one he's really nice to."

"Oi!"

"Anyway nice to meet you all," he added with a smile.

Shirou looked at Atsuya. "You know it's the truth, brother o' mine," he replied.

Atsuya just grumbled what vaguely sounded like, "Shut up," his face bright red, presumably from embarrassment. Someoka just stared at the two before he "hmph'd" and walked past them and outside. Endou moved to follow the other. "Someoka!"

Aki ran past him. "I'll go talk to him!"

Shirou flexed one of his hands. "Huh? Did I upset him?" he asked, a bit of sadness in his voice.

Atsuya turned to give his twin a look that said, "Really, Shirou. Really."

Endou bowed. "Sorry... Someoka's a nice guy, he really is."

"Tch, didn't seem like it," Atsuya muttered.

Shirou gave a small smile to Endou. "Don't worry about it," he replied after catching the look Atsuya gave him.

"Fubuki-kun and Fubuki-kun, Could you give us some of your time?" Hitomiko asked with her arms crossed.

"Sure, um," Shirou replied, turning to face her. Atsuya opened his mouth to make a snarky remark, but closed it again, not wanting to get elbowed by Shirou again in less than five minutes. Shirou sent Atsuya a sideways grin briefly before looking back at Hitomiko.

"I'm Kira Hitomiko, Raimon Junior High Soccer club's coach," she stated.

Shirou stared at Hitomiko. "Raimon Junior High Soccer club...?"

A short time later, the group slowly made its way down some flights of stairs towards the school's soccer field. "It's so cold," Megane remarked, shivering.

"This is normal," a Hakuren student replied, looking back at him. "You'll warm up if you move around."

Another boy blew his nose on his mittens before pulling them away from his face, snot hanging from them.

"Wanna borrow my mittens?"

Megane shook his head. "N-No thanks."

As she walked down the stairs, Haruna lost her footing and with a shriek fell backwards only for Shirou to catch her. "Watch your step. It's easy to slip on these stairs," Shirou said, helping her regain her balance.

"Thank you," Haruna answered. Shirou didn't reply as suddenly nearby, some snow fell from a roof. This reminded both Shirou and Atsuya of the avalanche that claimed the lives of their parents and they clung to each other in fear. Atsuya closed his eyes tightly as he clung to his twin, whimpering quietly, and seeming much, much meeker than he had before.

One of the female Hakuren students walked over to the cowering twins and placed a hand on Shirou's shoulder. "It's okay, Shirou-kun. Some snow just fell from a roof," she soothed.

Shirou looked up at the nearby roof. "A-A roof?" he asked "Oh...Snow from a roof..." He calmed down but quickly noticed Atsuya was still cowering. "It's okay, Atsuya," he whispered.

"Hey, something wrong?" Endou turned to the twins, looking somewhat concerned.

Shirou looked at Endou. "No, it's nothing," he replied briefly before returning his attention to Atsuya and resuming trying to calm him down.

"To be so surprised by something like this, you guys are more timid than I thought," Natsumi commented with her arms crossed. Shirou laughed awkwardly but didn't say anything.

"What delicate guys. Are they really ace striker and defender?" Touko asked.

A short while later, while the majority of the Hakuren and Raimon students played in the snow, Hitomiko, Endou, Haruna, Melody, Shirou and Atsuya sat around a small stove in an igloo. "We are gathering comrades to defeat Aliea Academy," Hitomiko stated.

"Comrades?" Shirou asked.

"Otonashi-san," Hitomiko called.

"Hai," Haruna replied before getting up and showing the screen of her laptop to the twins. On the screen were various scenes of destruction. Atsuya raised his eyebrows at the carnage.

"You know about these happenings, right?" Endou asked.

"Several days ago, Aliea Academy destroyed several junior high schools here in Hokkaido," Hitomiko added.

"Yeah, but we're safe," Shirou replied, putting something on the screen covering the heat source. "They won't come after us. We're a weak team that just started playing as a soccer club."

"It's not a problem just for Hakuren Junior High. We can't let Aliea Academy keep doing as they please," Hitomiko argued.

"We're trying to create the strongest soccer team on Earth to defeat them," Endou said. "That's why we came to see you two!" He looked over at Shirou and Atsuya.

"... Um... yeah. We're honored," Atsuya muttered blandly.

Shirou looked into the heat source. "The strongest soccer team on Earth?" he murmured.

"We've heard rumors about you two. If those rumors are true, we'd like you to guys to come fight with us. Will you show us your playing?" Hitomiko asked.

Shirou shared a look with Atsuya, a whole message being conveyed in it. "That's fine with me," Shirou stated.

"Eh, yeah, guess I don't mind either," Atsuya said, shrugging.

And so, a bit later, the group found themselves down on the soccer field. "Coach, what's the plan?" Endou asked.

"Play as you wish. We're playing to see Fubuki-kun and Fubuki-kun's skills, after all," Hitomiko replied.

"Okay!" Over with the Hakuren team, they were planning to do the usual strategy, Shirou getting possession of the ball before passing to Atsuya.

"The only striker for this team is Gouenji," Someoka grumbled to himself before walking away from the others. Someoka quickly got possession of the ball and headed towards Shirou who was near Hakuren's goal. He easily pushed through the other Hakuren players, their skills being on a lower level then the twins, it seemed.

Shirou merely smiled as Someoka approached him. "I don't mind that forceful playing style." After a few moments, Shirou moved almost as if he were skating towards Someoka and jumped in the air, twirling a few times with some snowflakes surrounding him. "Ice Ground!" he called as he landed encasing the general area around him, including Someoka, in ice, long enough for him to get possession of the ball.

Shirou sent the ball to another Hakuren player only for Kazemaru to dash in and steal the ball. "Seems like the other players aren't on the same level as the twins," Kazemaru mused before sending the ball to Someoka.

Shirou quickly moved to stand in front of the goal. "If you think you can block it, then go ahead!"

Someoka then moved his leg back and a dragon seemed to break out of the ground. "Dragon Crash!" he yelled as he kicked the ball, sending it hurling towards Shirou.

Shirou stared at the ball before, in one swift movement, raising his foot and stopping the shoot. He then rested one foot on the ball before locking eyes with Atsuya and nodding. "Guess it's our turn," he called before passing the ball to him.

"Time to show you guys what we can do!" Atsuya said with a grin, nodding at Shirou. Atsuya used his chest to get the ball, muttering something about how Ice Ground "still looked fucking gay." He began to run towards Raimon's goal to shoot. He gave an almost feral grin. "C'mon, don't tell me that's all you've guys got! Talk about a bunch of small fries!"

He began running towards the Raimon goal, easily fending off Ichinose. Kazemaru and Kidou both slid towards Atsuya, intending to steal the ball from him. Using sheer brute force, Atsuya pressed forward, managing to break through and send Kazemaru and Kidou flying. Domon headed for Atsuya using his Killer Slide hissatsu.

Atsuya easily avoided Killer Slide, jumping over it. He moved even closer to the goal and prepared to shoot. Using his legs, he brought the ball up, now surrounded by icy winds, as he dropped down into a crouch. As the miniature blizzard around the ball picked up power, he muttered, "Blow 'em over." Atsuya jumped up, whirling around a couple of times before slamming the ball with his foot. "Eternal Blizzard!" he called out.

"God Hand!" Endou yelled, using his power to project an overly large hand out in front of him to try and stop the shoot. His eyes widened as the hand turned to ice and shattered, Atsuya's grin growing wider. The whistle rang out as the ball made it into the goal.

"God Hand was broken through so easily?" Aki asked in shock.

"These are The Blizzard Fubukis," Natsumi muttered numbly.

"Amazing," breathed Endou. "I thought I could stop it... It's so powerful!"

"Heh... listen up!" Atsuya said with a grin, turning towards Endou. "I'm the ace striker... Fubuki Atsuya!"

Endou grinned. "I wanna stop your shoot no matter what now!"

"Try it to see if you can," Atsuya said. It was obvious this was doing nothing to help his already horribly inflated ego.

Shirou shook his head from where he was. "Oi, Atsuya! Don't get too cocky unless you want me to come over there and put you back in line," he called.

Atsuya pouted. "Shirouuuuuuu..."

Shirou shook his head. "Just continue like you usually do." Shirou decided he'd deal with Atsuya later.

"Heh... don't mind if I do... _nii-chan,_" Atsuya said with a smirk. He looked between his brother and Endou, a feral-seeming glint in his eyes.

Someoka clenched his teeth in anger. "No matter how good his shoots are, no one can replace Gouenji." He walked over to the ball and used his foot to knock it into his arms. "I won't let you get away with this!"

"That's enough!" Hitomiko called out. "End the match!"

Someoka looked at the coach "Wha—?"

Haruna looked away from her video camera at Hitomiko and gasped. "We're ending it here?"

"Like hell it's ending here!" Someoka growled before kicking the ball at Atsuya.

"S-Someoka-kun!" Aki looked over at Someoka worriedly. Atsuya swiftly turned around, kicking the ball up into the air.

Someoka ran at Atsuya or, more specifically, where the ball went flying. "I'll never lose to you!"

Atsuya grinned wildly, running towards Someoka. "Wanna go at it, then? Heh, interesting!" He swerved around to kick the ball. Someoka swung his foot for the ball at the same time as Atsuya.

"W-whoa!" Endou's eyes widened as he watched... Well, along with the majority of the rest of the team, but that's not really important. Atsuya easily overpowered Someoka. "Someoka!" Endou cried out, concerned.

"Don't tell me that's all you've got," Atsuya said, sneering. "Not even worth the effort! No way I'm gonna be satisfied with this. Can't any of you entertain me?"

Once again, Atsuya used his legs to bring the ball into the air, the icy winds blowing even more fiercely than before. He dropped down into a crouch as the ball hovered in the air, picking up power from the miniature blizzard. Atsuya sprung up, whirling around in the air, slamming his foot into the ball again, but with much, much more power behind it than the previous one. "Eternal Blizzard!" Endou's eyes widened as the ball hurtled towards him.

Touko and Kabeyama both hurried to stand in front of Endou. Touko put her arms to her side as a ring of blue energy surrounded her before she shot upward, standing on a rocky tower. "The Tower!" She raised her arms and started to collect electricity in her hands until the high-powered Eternal Blizzard smashed right through the tower, sending her flying.

Kabeyama raised his arms as he was surrounded with a yellow glow. "The Wall!" he yelled as a wall of rock appears behind him.

"Don't think for a second that your techniques are a match for Eternal Blizzard!" Atsuya called out tauntingly. The high-powered Eternal Blizzard broke through the rock wall, flying towards the goal.

Endou gritted his teeth, muttering, "I'll stop this shoot no matter what!" He twisted around, a yellow-orange glow starting to spiral around him. He whirled around. "Majin the Hand!"

He raised his fist as the... whatever the hell it was, appeared behind Endou and gave out a roar. At the same time, Endou and the... demon thing extended a hand forward. However, the ball barely grazed the Majin's fingertips, having been knocked off-course and going above the goalpost.

"Tch... all that changed the course?" Atsuya muttered, frowning.

Endou ran over to Kabeyama and Touko. "Are you two okay?"

Touko and Kabeyama slowly got to their feet. "Yes, Captain," Kabeyama replied.

"But that was amazing... Even with two defenders, it took everything we had just to send it off course," Touko added.

"Ah..." Endou looked up as Kidou ran over to him.

"Endou. If we use this on other big shoots we're up against..." A smile slowly crept onto the mid-fielder's face as Endou nodded.

"We might be able to defeat Aliea Academy!"

Hitomiko applauded and stepped forward. "Okay, that's enough!"

Atsuya glanced around and huffed, walking over to Shirou, with what could almost be considered a pout on his face.

Shirou looked at his brother. "You got to show off, so what's with that expression, Atsuya?" he asked.

"What expression?" Atsuya muttered, crossing his arms and turning away a bit.

Shirou shook his head. "Stop sulking, Atsuya," he said as he could tell that was why Atsuya turned away from him.

"I'm not sulking," Atsuya muttered, though it was obvious he was lying through his teeth.

"Wow, that was amazing you guys!" Endou ran over, grinning. He turned to Atsuya. "That freezing shoot of yours really impressed me!" Atsuya didn't respond. While he was certainly impressed that Touko and Kabeyama had managed to knock it off course, he wasn't about to admit it out loud.

Shirou closed his eyes and smiled. "You guys are the first ones to be able to do anything about Atsuya's shots."

Endou grinned even wider. "I want to play soccer with both of you!"

Shirou opened his eyes. "Me too. With you... With you guys, I feel like I can play soccer to my full extent," he answered before looking at Atsuya to see what his answer would be.

Atsuya opened one eye. "If Shirou says yes... then I guess that's my answer, too."

Hitomiko smiled and nodded. "Fubuki-kun and Fubuki-kun, I'll make the preparations so that you two can officially join the Inazuma Caravan. You'll both fight with us, right?"

"Yeah, That's fine with me," Shirou said with a nod. Someoka just hmph'd.

Atsuya glared sharply at Someoka before turning back to Hitomiko and nodding. "It's the birth of Raimon's new striker and defender."

Shirou smiled. "Good to be with you all."

Someoka clenched his fists from where he was standing next to Ichinose, Domon and Kazemaru before with a growl, he turned and stalked away. Aki looked over at Someoka, blinking. "Someoka-kun?"

"Someoka!" Endou shouted, running after him.

As soon as Endou and Someoka were out of earshot, Atsuya paused. "What put a stick up HIS ass?"

Shirou shrugged, "I don't know what's up with him, Atsuya."

Later at the Steel Tower Plaza, Endou, Shirou and Atsuya watched the sunset and reminisced. "I remember that like it was only yesterday, Captain," Shirou said.

Atsuya grinned and leaned back, hands behind his head. "How could I forget, Enderp?"

"Oi!" Shirou merely laughed at what Atsuya said. Atsuya closed his eyes, still grinning.

"You know, you're gonna miss the sunset with your eyes closed like that."

"... Enderp?" Atsuya opened one eye. "... Shut up."


End file.
